USS Humming Bird (AMc-26)

USS Humming Bird (AMc-26) was a unique coastal minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

History
United States
Ordered: as Whaling City
Laid down: 1936
Launched: 1936
Acquired: 30 October 1940
In service: 12 June 1941
Out of service: 18 February 1945
Stricken: c. 1945
Fate: sold, fate unknown
General characteristics
Displacement: 180 tons
Length: 90 ft 5 in (27.56 m)
Beam: 19 ft 10 in (6.05 m)
Draught: 9 ft (2.7 m)
Speed: 9 k

The first ship to be named Humming Bird by the Navy was a wooden dragger, built as Whaling City in 1936 by Morse Shipyard, Thomaston, Maine; acquired by purchase 30 October 1940 from her owner, William Hayes of New Bedford, Massachusetts; converted to Navy use at Geo. Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts, and placed in service 12 June 1941.

Humming Bird operated throughout the war as a minesweeper and minesweeping training vessel, largely in the vicinity of Mine Warfare Training School, Yorktown, Virginia.

She was reclassified Small Boat C-13548, 12 June 1944 and placed out of service at New York 18 February 1945. Delivered to the Maritime Commission, the craft was eventually sold.

References

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